Dog Fennel Achillea millefolium

Yarrow is a herbaceous perennial in the Asteraceae (daisy) family Introduced to America from Europe in colonial times.  This plant prefers well-drained soil and full sun and it is often found naturalizing in fields and along roadsides.  It is a wonderful wildlife plant that attracts butterflies.   Makes excellent cut or dried arrangements. Very easy to divide.  This plant is moderately salt tolerant. Plants can spread aggressively by rhizomes and they self-seed regularly.  After initial bloom, it can be dead-headed back to a lateral flower bud to encourage rebloom.  Generally considered too weedy to use in borders but works well as a flowering ground cover in meadows, prairies, and naturalized areas. It can even be a lawn alternative in sunny areas with little foot traffic. It can be unattractive by the end of summer after it blooms and can be pruned back severely or mowed with a rotary mower on the highest setting in naturalized areas.  Large clumps should be divided as necessary to maintain healthy and vigorous growth and performance and reduce disease.  Cultivars cover a range of flower colors including pinks, reds, creams, yellows and bicolor pastels.  Hybrid varieties have been bred for stronger stems and a more erect habit.

The finely divided, pinnatifid to decompoundly pinnatifid, leaves give the plant a soft fern-like texture, making it attractive even when the erect flowering branches are not in season; bloom is from mid to late summer, into early fall. It has a tendency to spread in beds.

Quick ID Hints:

• Leaves pinnatifid, fern-like in appearance.
• Inflorescence terminal, small heads in a dense umbel.

Insects, Diseases, and Other Plant Problems:  Stem rot, powdery mildew are rare.  Stems can be weak. Wind and rain can flatten plantings, spreads aggressively.  It may cause contact dermatitis in some people.  

More information on Achillea.